It’s February, which means the NFL football season has (or almost has) come to an end, however it also marks the start of the IFL football season.
The Iowa Barnstormers opened up training camp on Monday with a few slight changes to the roster. The team returns familiar stars such as Javicz Jones and Brady Roland, but has lost their QB Taylor Genuser to another team; the full roster is shown below.
Iowa Barnstormers Training Camp Notes
“A lot of our returners are coming back. Javicz Jones was the best linebacker in the league last year, in my opinion one of the best players in the league,” Barnstormers Head Coach Joe Brannen said. “He came back and worked harder in the offseason, looks even faster, stronger, and bigger. He’s just that much quicker this season.”
“Robbie Rouse, Aaron Wimberly has been a dynamic threat for us so we can use the backfield in the wide receiver position,” Brannen said.
It sounds like Brannen will use a run heavy set with Rouse and utilize Wimberly as a receiver.
“Brady Roland has had a great camp, last year he had a great season and was an all league player for us,” Brannen said.
The second year coach also noted Roland signed right out of Grand View and played 14 games at Grand View, then another 14 with Iowa, obviously being a bit hard on the body.
Iowa competed in six practices this week (Monday-Saturday) leading up to a team scrimmage on Sunday. The team will then practice through the end of the week before traveling to Cedar Rapids for a Pre-Season game against the Cedar Rapids Titans.
QB Controversy?
The big question at the start of the season was who the QB spot would belong too, and Brannen says it’s anybody’s game as of now. He noted that both Donovan Porterie and Brion Carnes are both doing exceptionally well.
“We’re repping through and installing. Donavan is obviously a veteran in this league, he knows where to get the football against different coverages and how to get the ball out of his hand on time,” Brannen said. “Brion is really getting through with his anticipation and becoming more of an anticipating thrower. He’s such an athlete too, he can do a lot of things for us, being mobile in the run game. He’s not just a guy that’s serviceable, he’s a threat. He’s one of the top three fastest guys on our team, probably.”
Homegrown Cyclones lead in state players
The Barnstormers added three marquee Iowa State players to a team that saw no ISU guys last season, that saw zero last year. Cyclone fans will see Aaron Wimberly and Ernst Brun, who are both former USA football players, and Ter’ran Benton who has multiple years of experience in the AFL.
“Our goal since day one is to have as many guys on this football team, we did that last year with some Grand View and Upper Iowa guys,” Brannen said. “This year, Iowa we have represented with Lebron Daniel, we have Brion who played at UNI, Brett who played at Drake, and our Iowa State guys.
Brannen and his staff have made it a goal to try for some of the in-state talent.
“We’re just looking to put together the best team we can and if we’ve got players that are just as talented right here in this state, why would go to California or Texas or wherever to find them. Don’t get me wrong, we’re trying to find the best guys we can to bring a winning football team to Des Moines, but if we’ve got guys right here in our back yard we are going to take advantage of it.”
Barnstormers Training Camp Full Roster
TJ Simmons
Matt Goldsmith
Kelvin Gilkey
Mike Early
Chayz Holt
DaeJohn Love
David Toussaint
Alex Bartlett
Tony Grimes
Ter’Ran Benton
DL
Brett Park
Tim McGee
Lebron Daniel
Clarence Bumpas
Raytron Lamar
Ahotoetu’u Liu
Delvin Jones
LB
Javicz Jones
Monte Gaddis
OL
Will Harris
Alex Gonzalez
Tyler Ahrens
Rocco Manfre
Jairus Spain
Keyun Swinney
Peter Evans
QB
Donovan Porterie
Brion Carnes
RB
Ranier Rackley
Robbie Rouse
Aaron Wimberly
WR
Lemans Casimier
Brady Roland
Johnny Thomas
Lucas Hefty
Charles Torwudzo Jr.
David Frazier
Chris Gant
Marcus Barnett
The full roster can be found Here. The Barnstormers will play their first Regular Season game on the road against the Colorado Crush on Februrary 20.
